Must Read: I’ve just read the following two papers and think they are must reads! We all need to know the research on learning sciences. Seriously, everyone in the education field, from a person designing a new application to the U.S. Secretary of Education, needs to dive into the learning sciences if they haven’t already. Two relatively recent papers are really helpful as they summarize the research across fields:

These aren’t simple papers, so I suggest engaging colleagues to read and discuss the sections of the papers that relate the most directly to you and your work. We need similar papers that summarize what we know about instruction in each of the content areas, as well.

What’s Happening in the States

Local media is a great way to get a sense of what is going on in a region. It’s a clue that grading has been introduced too early when there are letters to the editor in support of A-F grading. (more…)

Once upon a time, there was only one book, Delivering on the Promise, where you could find an explanation of competency-based education (although they didn’t call it that in Chugach). Now there are more resources than anyone can possibly read while still doing your day job. Below are a number of resources prepared for a panel on the Journey Towards Competency-Based Progressions with Jeremiah Newell, Mobile Area Education Foundation, Chip Linehan, Building 21, and Nate McClennen, Teton Science Schools, at the New Schools Venture Fund Summit. I always value the recommendations from practitioners and want to share them with others. I’ve also added the growing list of books on competency-based education as well. (more…)

What’s the relationship between self-advocacy skills and self-determination? (Click image to enlarge.)

There are so many valuable reports and books being produced it is definitely hard to keep up (and CompetencyWorks is adding to the challenge, as we are releasing one report per month through June – each one rich with ideas and insights).

In this What’s New about Competency-Based Education, we are highlighting three resources very much worth your time to read or at least skim.

This article reviews some of the new state policy resources and highlights the types of discussion and initiatives taking place in the individual states. Nevada is joining the group of states that are supporting innovative districts, and Mississippi is supporting an innovation network. The most important thing to pay attention to is the discussion and debate in Maine as they decide whether they are going to continue to believe that their students and educators can learn to high standards and will keep learning how to support students in doing so…or if they modify expectations. Fingers crossed that the discussion moves from what’s wrong to what we need to make sure all of our students learn!

State Policy Resources

Across the country, state policymakers have been engaged in thinking through how they can strengthen their policies and infrastructures to better (more…)

A number of valuable resources have been released recently. You might not have time to read them all, but it may be a good idea to quickly look at them so that you are familiar with them – as they may be helpful to you at some time in the future: